The invention relates to a belt-driven roller conveyor system in which accumulation or collection of the conveyed items is accomplished on a curved segment of the conveyor system.
As is known in the art, accumulation on a straight section with a belt-driven roller conveyor is commonly accomplished by lowering the mechanism that causes the drive belt to engage the underside of the rollers, thus allowing gravity to move the drive belt out of engagement with the driven rollers of a conveyor. However, this does not work when trying to accumulate on a curved section of a belt driven roller conveyor, as the twisting of the belt as it travels along a curve maintains it in contact with the rollers. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a belt-driven roller conveyor that allows for accumulation on a curved segment thereof.